Ashley High School parent defends JROTC instructor suspended

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — An Ashley High School parent is speaking out after the lead JROTC instructor was suspended yesterday.

A Facebook comment allegedly made by Chief Thomas Frost led to the suspension.

- Advertisement -

“I don’t think four words is a good reason for him to go through what he’s have to go through,” Parent Dennis Chinn said.

Dennis chinn is talking about the four words in a Facebook comment about a recent shooting in Creekwood where witnesses on scene were uncooperative. Frost allegedly posted it saying, “Do they truly matter?”

Chinn said he knows Frost very well, because both of his sons had JROTC with Frost.

“I know the kids that he’s helped,” Chinn said. “They are not all white kids. They are not all black kids. They are not all hispanic kids.”

Even more than that, he said Frost cares.

“He talks to these children like they are his own children, not like he’s talking down to somebody, not like he’s talking at somebody, but he tries to make sure that they are welcome and if he can help in any way, that’s his goal,” Chinn said.

For now, Frost has been suspended immediately with pay while New Hanover County Schools investigate.

“I understand what he is trying to say, but he really picked a bad way of saying it,” Chinn said. “He has always been the type of person to lead off an issue with a question and that sparks a conversation.”

Now, Chinn just hopes the board of education sees more than just those four words.

“My boys think the world of Chief Frost and I have nothing bad to say about him,” Chinn said. “He’s always been an outstanding and very professional person in my opinion.”

When we went to Frost’s house, a woman who answered the door said Frost has lawyers and will be meeting with the school system to talk about the situation.